Thinking about the social stratification of delinquency spaces with Michel Foucault and Stéphanie Saint-Clair

In the wake of Michel Foucault’s reflections on penality, the idea of “differential management of illegalism” has mainly given rise to work on the justice and prison systems before being extended to other social control mechanisms. Without really being followed up on this point, Michel Foucault also suggested taking into account the dialectical relationship between penality and spaces of delinquency. This article has initiated this approach through the examination of the history, experience and struggles of Stephanie Saint-Clair, a black, French woman who became a central figure in the world of illegal lotteries in Harlem, New York in the early 20th century. From this case study, a number of theoretical and methodological issues are highlighted in order to outline an analytical framework that re-articulates the place of criminality and delinquency in the study of social domination.